Vitamin D

There is a lot of talk these days about vitamin D and its potential health benefits. The first thing to understand about vitamin D is that it is a fat soluble vitamin, along with the vitamins A, E and K. What this essentially means is that it can be stored in the body for long periods of time as opposed to the water soluble vitamins (B and C) which need to be replenished daily.

Vitamin D is the one vitamin that is actually produced in the body in response to sunlight and is thus commonly known as the sunshine vitamin. It is essential in regulating the absorption of calcium and phosphorous, and thus involved in normal bone growth and development, as well as regulating and maintaining healthy bones. It is also intricately involved in immune system function and thus helps improves resistance against many diseases.

Because vitamin D regulates the expression of hundreds of genes it can affect many other things throughout the body as well. There are hundreds of studies linking deficient vitamin D levels with things such as osteoporosis, hyperparathyroidism, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, dermatitis, Chrohn’s disease and blood pressure to name a few.

I frequently suggest to my patients to supplement their diet with 50,000 IU’s of vitamin D-3 one time per week. The great thing about doing it this way is you only have to take one tablet per week and 100 tablets (a 2 year supply) costs less than $30.

If anyone has further questions or would like more information, my office is open on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and again from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm. Consultations are always free.